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Facing financial woes, DeFuniak Hospital reportedly misses payroll

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. (WMBB) – Employees at Healthmark Regional Medical Center in DeFuniak Springs have apparently not gotten their most recent paycheck.

News 13 spoke with a medical professional currently working at Healthmark who has chosen to remain anonymous.

They said they haven’t been paid in three weeks.

“No one has been paid to my knowledge, including salaried people because I asked today, since… our last payday was April 22,” our source said.

News 13 learned that Healthmark Chief Operating Officer Lisa Holley offered to provide a letter to employees to give to banks and creditors.

It states that Healthmark is experiencing a delay in payroll obligations and that due to circumstances beyond their control, funding was not available to cover paychecks.

We also have an internal message to staff from hospital administrator Melissa Rebecca, which said everyone will be paid when funds are released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

We repeatedly left messages for her, asking for a statement regarding these issues, but she has not returned our calls or provided any comment.

“As far as anyone can say it’s closed,” our source said. “There’s no inpatients, there’s no ER, there’s nothing. I mean the ancillary services are there but there’s not a patient in the building unless they are an outpatient getting their labs drawn.”

The emergency room closed back on March 18 for renovations.

Officials anticipated the closure to last two to four weeks.

That was eight weeks ago.

Despite the lack of patients, the employee we spoke to said hospital employees are still working, even if not practicing medicine.

“They’ve had the paramedics and the nurses and anyone that was full-time pretty much anyone, including dietary, doing in-house modification, painting, and things of that nature,” our source said.

And apparently working without pay for now.

“I’m not real sure whether I’m supposed to go back to work and give them more of my time and not be paid for it, or look for another employer,” our source said.

While the emergency room is closed, Walton County EMS has been taking emergency patients to other nearby hospitals, mostly Ascencion Sacred Heart Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach or North Okaloosa Medical Center in Crestview.